Two-year-old Vennela handed away in Anantapur district on Sunday, because of malnutrition and hunger. Unable to tolerate hunger, the kid reportedly ate soil, which led to her death. Vennela became being raised by using her aunt Nagamani, who lives along with her husband, mom and children inside the Hamali Quarters region of Kummaravandlapalle village, Kadiri Mandal.
Nagamani and her husband Mahesh had migrated to Kadiri about ten years in the past from Bagepalli Mandal, Chikballapur district in Karnataka. Both of them have been doing daily wage work to guide their 5 youngsters, Nagamani’s mother, and Nagamani’s sister’s daughter, Vennela.
The couple’s 3-12 months-vintage son Santosh had also died of malnutrition about 6 months in the past. According to the police, neighbours say that both the youngsters had eaten mud out of hunger.
“The family doesn’t have a proper house. They were dwelling in a makeshift structure. The mother and father had buried the kids close to this structure after their deaths,” said A Ismail, Inspector, Kadiri Rural. The incident changed into added to the attention of Kadiri Rural SI Venkataswamy by way of residents of the neighbourhood.
Officials allege parental neglect
Inspector A Ismail said that the children have been no longer provided with sufficient care and vitamins by way of the dad and mom. “The mother, father and grandmother are all alcoholics. They might now not prepare dinner frequently. They would no longer feed the kids well,” said Ismail.
District Medical and Health Officer KVNS Anil Kumar advised TNM that the youngsters were abandoned via each their mother and father. “We still have not been able to hint the father. The youngsters used to stay with the grandmother because the mom become out most instances. Our ANMs (Auxiliary nurse midwives) had given them vaccinations however should have taken a comprehensive technique to avoid this. No postmortem became finished however we will finish its a case of malnutrition due to hunger.”
Kadiri Revenue Divisional Officer T Ajaya Kumar carried out an inquiry into the incident on Wednesday on Anantapur District Collector’s instructions. The file, too, states that Mahesh’s “wife and mother-in-regulation are recurring drinkers… They did now not appearance after the kids properly. They did now not prepare dinner food for the children and almost omitted them day in and time out.”
Referring to Vennela’s dying, the record says, “This toddler changed into also totally ignored through Nagamani and her mom. Subsequently, the child’s health deteriorated in some days or even in that condition also, neither Nagamani nor her mom knowledgeable the neighborhood ANM or Health Worker or took the baby to the local clinic for immediate clinical treatment.”
Since the incident changed into brought to light via the police and neighborhood media, the RDO has claimed that movement is being taken to offer the circle of relatives with a ration card (ideally an Antyodaya Anna Yojana card for families Below Poverty Line) and task playing cards for Mahesh and Nagamani, in order to discover employment underneath the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. According to reports, the couple had been having difficulty locating work frequently.
Failure of infant welfare programs?
Balala Hakkula Sangham, a baby rights NGO, has written to the National Human Rights Commission disturbing justice for the children and movement against authorities officials responsible for the deaths.
“It’s the government’s responsibility to make sure that records approximately toddler welfare schemes reaches dad and mom. Not absolutely everyone is aware of them. They have introduced schemes like Balamrutham however those are not applied nicely. This is a first-rate lapse inside the kingdom’s baby welfare application,” stated Achyuta Rao, President, Balala Hakkula Sangham.
According to Inspector Ismail, not one of the circle of relatives members had Aadhaar cards. Without an Aadhaar card, the kids couldn’t have had get admission to to food at the neighborhood Anganwadis. But the RDO insists that simplest two of the youngsters do not have Aadhaar playing cards, and the rest of the kids, inclusive of Santhosh and Vennela, had access to meals at the local Anganwadi centre.
Rehabilitation for the family
The couple had additionally misplaced a daughter because of unwell fitness approximately a 12 months in the past. They at the moment are left with 4 kids. Three of those children, an eight-yr-antique boy, and a 7-year-antique woman and a 6-year-old girl are presently being taken care of with the aid of the local Anganwadi Centre. According to the RDO, the 3 youngsters were produced before the Child Welfare Committee and shifted to a shelter home on behalf of the Integrated Child Protection Scheme and Integrated Child Development Services branch.
A scientific take a look at-up has reportedly proven Nagamani and her one-year-vintage daughter to be anaemic. Officials plan to admit the mom and child to the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre, following which the kid can be sent to a Sishu Sadan Kendram, even as Nagamani and her mother can be admitted to a de-addiction centre. The RDO has said that after the two ladies complete their de-dependancy software, they may be held accountable for the youngsters’s deaths, and charged with child abuse and cruelty in opposition to kids.
While some of these remedial measures through district officers may help Nagamani and Mahesh’s family in coping with their circumstance of excessive poverty, Santhosh and Vennela’s deaths are an alarming manifestation of circle of relatives, society and the nation neglecting and failing its children.
